Investing.com - Asian shares were mixed on Monday with Shanghai showing an early rebound, but Tokyo anf Sydney down.
The Nikkei 225 fell 0.24%, while the S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.57% and the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.53% after a sharp 5.48% drop on Friday on reports regulators were scrutinizing brokerage firms.
Australia's business inventories for the third quarter, rose 0.1% as expected month-on-month, while company gross operating profits gained 1.3%, better than the 1.0% seen quarter-on-quarter, and housing credit for October rose 0.6% as expected and private sector credit rose 0.7%, better than the 0.6% month-on-month gain seen.
Also in Australia, the MI inflation gauge showed a reading of 0.1%.
Earlier, in Japan, industrial production for October rose 1.4% month-on-month, below the 1.9% gain seen, while retail sales jumped 1.8%, well above the 0.8% year-on-year increase expected.
New Zealand business confidence for November compiled by ANZ Bank came in at 14.6%, down from the 15% seen, but well above the 10.5% in October.
In the week ahead, investors will focus on Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for November, the last jobs report before the Federal Reserve decides on interest rates at its December 15-16 meeting.
The outcome of Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting will also be in focus amid speculation the central bank could ramp up its monetary stimulus program.
On Monday in the euro area, Germany is to release preliminary data on inflation as well as a report on retail sales.
The U.S. is to publish a report on manufacturing activity in the Chicago region as well as private sector data on pending home sales.
Last week, U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Telecoms, Financials and Healthcare sectors led shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Consumer Services sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.08%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.06%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.22%.